Rugby returned to the temple of hurling and Gaelic football earlier this year, as the Champions Cup semi-final between Leinster and Northampton brought a sell-out crowd of 82,000 to Croke Park.
The English opposition on the day added an intriguing element to the semi-final clash, with the Northampton stars receiving history lessons ahead of the game at one of the most historic sporting venues in Europe.
They also took to Croke Park during the captain's run on the day before kick-off and tried out their hurling skills on the pitch. Writing in his autobiography, Joe Canning revealed it was something that got under his skin, as it is a luxury not afforded to hurlers ahead of Championship games at GAA HQ. This is all down to a much-criticised GAA rule.
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Joe Canning on 'stone cold ridiculous' GAA rule
3 May 2024; Courtney Lawes plays hurling during a Northampton Saints captain's run at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
For some time, the GAA's ban on intercounty hurling players bringing hurls on the pitch before their warm-up has ruffled a few feathers and has earned criticism from several quarters.
A particularly notable example of its enforcement came this year when Cork star Patrick Horgan was stopped from entering the field of play by a steward ahead of May's electric Munster round-robin clash with Limerick while holding his hurl.
It was for this reason that hurling icon Joe Canning was livid to see Northampton players allowed a puck-around on the Croke Park pitch before their Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster.
Writing in his recently-released autobiography My Story about the build-up to the 2017 All-Ireland final and all the bells and whistles around the GAA's biggest day, Canning described his frustration at not being allowed to bring his hurl onto the pitch during the walkaround at halftime of that year's minor final. "Your hurl is all but deemed an offensive weapon", he says before writing:
This is the kind of thing that exasperates me about the GAA.
I was genuinely delighted that Leinster got to play their Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton in Croke Park last May. As a GAA man, I'm proud of the stadium and only too happy to have it shown to the outside world.
But it made my blood absolutely boil to see images of Courtney Lawes and other Northampton players messing around with hurls on the field the day before that game when that right is casually denied to hurlers on the biggest day of our year.
Not because I thought the rugby players were doing anything out of the ordinary. They weren't. But because they were indulged something that the GAA denies its own stars literally an hour before they become the centrepiece of hurling's biggest day.
To me, this rule is stone-cold ridiculous. It speaks of nothing more than a lack of respect for its own people. Sometimes, the GAA really lets itself down with stupid stuff. And that's about as stupid as it gets.
Canning has shared his frustrations with this rule before in his Irish Times column, and the point remains salient. Though they may be very different situations, it is hard to argue with Joe Canning's assessment of an outdated GAA rule.
